Chinese authorities have continued its onslaught on the Christian population in the country with the recent news of the 10 years in prison handed over to a Christian political dissident Liu Xianbin in Suining City, Sichuan.This revelation is contained in a report by the China Aid Association’s (www.ChinaAid.org) Media Coordinator, Rachel Sparkman who noted that the veteran Chinese political dissident, writer Xianbin was sentenced Friday by a court in Sichuan province to an unexpectedly harsh 10-year prison term on a treason charge simply for writing articles for overseas publications that the government deemed subversive.He noted that the Suining Intermediate People’s Court convicted Liu of “inciting subversion of state power” and handed down the sentence on Friday morning during court proceedings in which Liu was permitted to speak only a few words in his own defense. According to Sparkman, attempts by his lawyers Ma Xiaopeng and Wang Wei to present a defense were repeatedly interrupted by the presiding judge, and Liu was denied the opportunity to make a closing statement. He said that Liu’s wife, Chen Mingxian, and his older brother were allowed to attend the proceedings, but the 19 others observers in the courtroom were there by government plan adding that Liu, 43, a Suining city native, is one of the original signers of Charter 08, the document calling for democracy and constitutional reform drafted by 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo.